Astronomers Confirm Maisie’s Galaxy is Among Earliest Ever Observed

August 14, 2023 • by Marc Airhart

Detected with the James Webb Space Telescope, Maisie’s galaxy was observed 390 million years after the Big Bang.

An orange-red blob in the center of a black background

Spectroscopic observations reveal that Maisie’s galaxy, named after Steven Finkelstein’s daughter, was detected 390 million years after the Big Bang. That makes it one of the four earliest confirmed galaxies ever observed. Credit: NASA/STScI/CEERS/TACC/ University of Texas at Austin/S. Finkelstein/M. Bagley.


Share


The complicated structure at the centre of the Butterfly Nebula, NGC 6302. There is a bright source at the centre that is surrounded by greenish nebulosity and several looping lines in cream, orange and pink. One of these lines appears to form a ring oriented vertically and nearly edge-on around the bright source at the centre. Other lines trace out a figure eight shape. Moving outward from these complex lines and green nebulosity, there is a section of red light on either side of the object.

McDonald Observatory

Astronomers Investigate Complex Heart of a Cosmic Butterfly

An illustration demonstrating how a solar system is tilted with respect to the axis of its central star

McDonald Observatory

Some Young Suns Align with Their Planet-forming Disks, Others Are Born Tilted